Thicker Than Blood
by Piccolo's Love Slave
Summary: Sequal to 'Piccolo's Embrace'. Tae is grown and Piccolo and Alaura have a daughter, Neko, who is a handful to say the least! (Finished)
1. Neko

Alaura Flaxen was rich. Not money-rich, though, being a 'trust-baby' she did have enough to keep herself and her family comfortable long after she passed away, but she was rich in ways that really mattered more than money. She had love and she had a family.  
  
Her love, her one and only, was by her side and would remain to be so for as long as she needed him. Which would be until the day she passed from this earth, Alaura knew in her heart of hearts that she would never stop needing Piccolo. Nor he her. She also adored Tae, the little namekian who had first come to her as a potential student in her dance class.  
  
He had surpassed that potential and more, she was so proud to see his graceful fluidity of motion on stage as he wow-ed the audience and always gave one hundred and ten percent to every effort. Tae was also not so little anymore, Alaura smiled to think that now she had to stand on her tip toes just to kiss him on the cheek anymore. Has it been so long ago when she was able to pick him up and cuddle him to her breast? When he allowed her to do so, Tae, like most nameks, had always been the mature one. Still, he called her 'Mom' and 'Mother' because he seemed to sense how much it meant to her and because he loved and respected her so.  
  
Alaura lived still in the forest, yet in another house. After the events of early May, four years past, she could not stand to be in that house at all, even had the damage to the floors and roof been fixable. She had wanted to start fresh, away from the pain and shadows of the past. She had believed that love and happiness were just around the corner, in her lover's arms and in Tae's sweet smile.  
  
It was after Tae had started growing apart from her, focusing more and more on his dancing and his ever-striving goal of being perfect and Piccolo left her more and more to consentrate on his own training and dealing with people and events from that part of himself, that other life he rarely brought home to her, that Alaura began feeling the first pangs of longing. She had never felt the need to have something for her own, something that no one could take from her and that she could love unconditionally. She had never realized what it felt to be a mother. She assumed that mothering Tae in her own way had awakened the dorment feelings beneath her breast and they grew until she could deny them no longer.  
  
After much thought and agonizing self-anylisis, Alaura spoke with Piccolo and Tae about her feelings. She knew that Piccolo could not give her the child she so desperately wanted and did not wish to hurt him with her yearnings. She struggled for a way to broach the subject for several months, starting and stopping in conversations with him until Piccolo was nearly at his wit's end. He could sense that something wasn't right with her, but he had no idea what it might be.  
  
He wasn't really as surprised, as she had thought he might have been, to find out the truth once she got down to actually telling him what she felt. He knew it was a natural thing for one to want to pro-create and nodded sagely, all species had the urge, regardless who what they were. It was his suggestion to her that surprised. Her. Not him. She almost had the feeling that he had already put a lot of thought into this, should the occasion come about, as it had. Four years ealier, she had the following converstation:  
  
"Are you serious, Piccolo?" She asked, sitting on the bed she shared with him when he was home to hold her as she slept. Her wavy blonde hair was tied back away from her delicate heart-shaped face with a big red bow that made her look both vulerable and childlike and which matched the flowing red dress she wore with barefeet. She always seemed for comfortable around the house in flowing outfits and bare feet. She hardly ever wore makeup, for which Piccolo was grateful, he enjoyed her natural beauty and believed that any face paint would just take away from the effect, "Is that really what you want to do?"  
  
He sat in the chair opposite the bed, drawfing it with his massive size, his white cloak drapped and falling about his shoulders in dramatic waves. His eyes regarded her with a mixture of solemnity and desire, it was a combination of expressions she was well-versed in when he looked at her. He nodded his head and said; "There is no one I would rather have do the job, Alaura."  
  
She just stared at him. He seemed to know how much having a child of her own body meant to her and she loved him even more for his understanding, even if the child would have no blood of his own. "But, will he agree to it?"  
  
"He will." He said, certain, Alaura smiled for when Piccolo was certain about things he was most often correct; "If I ask him. As a favor to me."  
  
She had a daughter now, age four a half years old. Neko was rambuncious and hyper and the spitting image of her father, her biological father, though she adored the one she called 'Da' her little mouth unable, yet to pronouce 'Father' or 'Daddy' so she had shortened the words into one that was simplier for her.  
  
Alaura loved her little girl and most of her days, now, were spent in chasing her from room to room, trying to keep up with her and keep her out of trouble. She was tireless and extremely strong and agile. Also, her non-stop curiousity about all things were almost enough to drive them all nuts! Tae hardly had time to visit with Alaura and Piccolo when he came home on weekends and holidays as he was busy trying to get his little sister to stop bouncing off the walls! And to say she had an apitite was an understatement! Alaura was just glad she'd had to foresight to hire someone to go shopping for her once a week and stock up.  
  
"It's her father and grandfather's blood," Piccolo had explained to her one night after a gruelling day of chasing her around and feeding her. Alaura held the sleepy little girl in the crock of her arm, the child's furry brown tail waving slightly as she dozed. Alaura stroked the little one's dark curls and kissed her brow; "She's perfectly normal."  
  
"Oh, thank god for that!" She asked, smiling as she carried their little girl to her bed and tucked her in; "I was beginning to think we needed to look into ritalin."  
  
"No need." He smiled at her, coming to wrap his arms around her waist from behind and kissing behind her earlob. He whispered; "As soon as Neko is old enough, I'll help her focus all that energy."  
  
She turned around and said; "For now, though, Let her be a kid." She kissed him, "She has her whole life ahead of her. She's only a baby for so long." 


	2. Friends and Family

"What are you doing, Alaura?" Piccolo asked, walking through the kitchen where his sensitive nose could pick out the aromas wafting up from the heating stove and oven. He saw pots with steam forming around them and stood in the doorway watching her bustle around, "You remind me of Gohan's Mother."  
  
She laughed and said; "I'm fixing dinner, silly." She brushed by him and planted a quick kiss on his chin, the only part she could reach without his help, "Tonight is very special."  
  
"How so?" He accepted her offer of a glass of ice water, drank it slowly and looked at her; "I know that with the way Neko eats this sight shouldn't be all that surprising, but something is different."  
  
"It is different." She said, pausing to brush her hair back from her damp forehead, "All the years I've never really enjoyed certain holidays.now that Neko is older I think it's time to start celebrating them once more."  
  
Just then, they heard a commotion at the front door and their daughter's loud, excitied squeal as she ran down the hallway. Piccolo scooped up the wriggling little girl in one arm and held her at his side as she giggled; "Not so fast, Little one! You'll ruin the carpet and your mother will kill us both!"  
  
"But Da!" She cried, as he let her leap down to the floor; "Tae's here!"  
  
Tae walked through the door, holding his overnight bag and was nearly knocked off his feet as his Neko launched herself at him, laughing and hugging him tightly. "Hey, Kiddo! I've missed you too!"  
  
"You don't come around often enough, you know." Alaura said, winking to ruin the stern-motherness of her tone, she could never really be angry with Tae, she loved him far too much. He pried Neko off his leg and a walked over to give Alaura a more tame embrace. Kissing her on the cheek, he said; "Merry Christmas, Mother."  
  
He nodded at Piccolo and Alaura noticed the silent exchange of mutual admiration between the two nameks.  
  
"What's Christmas?" Neko asked, her large dark eyes wide as she looked from face to face, "Mom? Da?"  
  
"It's not for another week, yet, Neko." Tae said; "But if you're a good girl than this fat red guy falls down the chiminy and leaves you lots of gifts to open."  
  
"Ooh!" She said, intrigued, "Is there lots of stuff to eat, too?"  
  
Everyone laughed at that and Alaura said; "Of course. Why wouldn't there be?"  
  
"Tae?" Alaura asked, removing her apron and setting it on the peg over the pantry door, "Could you take Neko outside and play with her for a bit?"  
  
"Sure, Mother." He said, grasping the little girl's hand in his own large green one, "Come on, Kiddo, Wanna see something really cool?"  
  
After they had left, Piccolo motioned for Alaura to come to him. She rested her head against his broad chest and sighed happily as he ran his fingers through her sweat-tangled locks, "Are we expecting any more company, tonight, Love?"  
  
She shook her head, he felt the movement and pressed her breasts to him; "I don't think so."  
  
"Good." He leaned down towards her and captured her mouth within his own, she snaked her arms around his waist to pull herself even more closer. With one sweep of his arm he cleared the table and leaned her backwards onto it, running one hand up her leg to her thigh and beyond, shoving the fabric of her skirt upwards with the motion. She sighed once more as the palm of his hand found her warm, damp spot and played soft circles around the mound.  
  
"Piccolo." She said, between a groan and a sigh, "Stop it! We can't.Neko."  
  
"Is outside with Tae." He answered against the warm, heaving flesh of her rounded breast, she tasted salty and sweet at the same time, "They won't be back inside for a while, yet."  
  
Instead of allowing her to answer he took one of her all ready hardened nipples into his mouth and began to suck expertly, knowing, after so many years, exactly how to make her pulse race and her breathing ragged. She moved beneath him and he smiled into her skin, feeling an overwhelming rush of satisfication the he could still have such control over her body.  
  
"Umm. Excuse me, I didn't know you where." Piccolo and Alaura moved away from each other swiftly, almost guiltily and she straighted her skirt while he fixed his now askew gi, "I could come back."  
  
"Don't be silly." Alaura said, to Piccolo she whispered, "I didn't even hear him."  
  
"I did." He said to her, "But I thought he'd wait outside."  
  
"It's all right, Gohan." Alaura said, "Merry Christmas. I thought you weren't going to be here until tomorrow."  
  
"Well, that was the plan," He said and she could see him eyeing the cookies she'd baked earlier that day, most of which had all ready been eaten by Neko, she sighed and poured the remainder, only about half a dozen, onto a plate and set in at the table, blushing slightly as she thought of what that table had just seen and started to pick up the place mats and things which had been knocked to the floor moments earlier; "But, I missed you guys too much to stay away any longer."  
  
He grinned as he bit into the cookie and Alaura said; "Does Neko know you're here?"  
  
"I saw her outside with Tae," He said, "She pushed me down into the snow when she greeted me. She's getting stronger every time I see her, isn't she?"  
  
Alaura and Piccolo both heard the pride within his tone whenever he spoke of the little girl who was actually his biological daughter, even though to everyone else, including Neko, he was her 'Uncle'. Alaura smiled, and ruffled Gohan's hair as she walked passed, "We're all proud of her. She is a ray of sunshine to us."  
  
Gohan heard her unspoken words; Thank you, Gohan, for giving her to us. 


	3. Neko's Discovery

A few days after Tae and Gohan's arrival.  
  
Neko was outside, exploring the forest around her house, as she did on occasion that she became too bored hanging out with her Mother, who always wanted to kiss and hug her and her father was gone somewhere or did not wish to be bothered during his meditation. She loved when her older brother, Tae, came to visit inbetween touring because he was always fun to play with.  
  
He never talked down to her like some of the grown-ups and even taught her some pretty neat tricks. Like making the blue ball of light in his hands and showing her how to do it too. It felt kind of warm and tingly in her stomach and out through her fingers when she first succeeded and made her feel extremly proud that first time.  
  
She hopped over a log and splashed in a mud puddle, careful to keep her tail up so it wouldn't get wet, she hated when her tail got wet or dirty. Neko shoved her hair out of her eyes and paused for half a second, kicking a small stone into the muddle, she sheilded her eyes from the glare of the autumn sun filtering in through the leaves and blinked comically once at what she saw before her.  
  
"What in the world.?" She smoothed down the blue pleated skirt her mother thought looked so cute on her, with a hole in the back for her tail, and peered closer at the creature laying there on the ground, seeming asleep, "Hello? Are you all right?"  
  
She watched, ready to leap away and take off back to the house at the slightest indication of danger, as the being stirred and opened it's dark eyes to gaze back up at her. She saw that it was smaller than her and looked like her, except that it did not have a tail and it's ears were pointed like Da's. It wasn't green like Da though, and Neko saw that it only had a thin blanket wrapped about it's shoulders. She noticed the shivering as well and said; "Who are you?"  
  
"I.I'm.cold!" The thing was a girl! A little girl with pointed ears and huge, liquid dark brown eyes, "P-Please! I don't know how I got here! Help me!"  
  
Neko starred at the little girl with the flaming red hair streaked with white that she at first thought was just frost, which fell in tangles to her waist and said; "Come with me! I'll take you back to my house and you can get warmed up. I bet your hungry too, huh?"  
  
"I.I.can't move!" She cried, huge tears forming in the corners of each eye, "I'm so cold I can't."  
  
"Don't worry!" Neko said; striding forward and wrapping on arm around the smaller girl's back and the other under her knees. She hefted her easily into the air and began to fly back towards the house.  
  
"You can fly.!" She did not try to hide her amazment.  
  
"Yes." Neko said, Tae had taught her a few years ago, it was nothing, really, once one got the hang of it, "It's no big deal. Can't you?"  
  
"Umm.no." She said; "Some of my people can, but the power has all but been forgotten by most of us.By the way; I'm Jalamira, but you can call me Mira."  
  
"My name's Neko." Neko said; "Just Neko."  
  
They arrived at the house and Tae met them at the door. "Neko! What do you have there?"  
  
"She was in the forest.I think she needs our help!" Neko didn't have time to finish before Alaura rushed out of the house and scooped up the shivering little girl with the pointed ears and odd-coloured hair. "Oh, you poor thing!"  
  
"I think I can help her, Mother." Tae said, as they brought her inside; "Put her on the sofa for a minute."  
  
Neko watched as Tae touched the little girl on her stomach and head and seemed to glow as warm passed from him to her and the shivering dyed down. She saw colour come back into her frozen cheeks and a pretty little smile formed upon her small features as she gazed up at her big brother in admiration and thanfulness.  
  
"Thank you, Tae." Alaura said as she hurriedly wrapped a warm blanket just out of the dryer around the little girl's thin shoulders, "What is your name, dear?"  
  
"J-Jalamira."  
  
"She said we can just call her Mira, Mom." Neko piped up, "Is she going to be okay, now?"  
  
"I feel much better.thank you." Mira said, sleepily, "But I am so tired."  
  
"You rest, dear." Alaura said, smoothing Mira's hair back from her forehead, "We'll have plently of time to discover the mystery of your arrival later. Tae?"  
  
Nodding, Tae picked up the bundle of girl and blanket and carried her into one of the un-used guest rooms. He tucked her into the queen-sized bed and fluffed the pillows up around her. Standing back, he thought she looked very tiny and helpless in that huge bed. She was already breathing deeply and soundly when he left her.  
  
"I wonder where she came from." He asked himself as he closed the door behind him, "Well, no doubt she will fill us all in when she's gotten some rest." 


	4. Jalamira

Mira rolled over and opened one eye. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and read the glowing red numbers in the dimness of the room. It was a little after three in the afternoon. Mira felt as if she'd been asleep for hours. She wiped the sleepy-dust from her eyes and pulled her reddish-white hair back from her face into a ponytail at the nape of her neck.  
  
I still don't understand how I arrived here. She thought, as she padded, the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders, to the open closet door and peered inside, looking for something to wear; My mind has holes in it, like swiss cheese, some things I can recall easily, such as the ability to fly being all but lost to my people and only a few of us retaining that skill.but, I cannot remember exactly where my people come from only the name of the planet.  
  
"Jalamir." She whispered, looking upwards, "I know because I was named after it.I also know that this is NOT Jalamir.I have seen no Jalamirians, only humans and that odd green person who was so nice to me to warm me up like that and that girl with the tail.SHE cannot be human!"  
  
Mira found a red pleated skirt and an odd-looking matching red and white top with a huge bow in front just over the collar and pulled them on. She also found some white knee socks and black and white saddle shoes. They fit her okay and she assumed that they must have belonged to the girl; Neko, at one point. She probably outgrew them, Mira thought, as she faced her reflection in the mirror overlooking the vanity table in the corner of the room.  
  
"Hmmm." She said, looking at herself, "It's not really my style, but it will have to do, I soppose."  
  
"Oh! Your awake!" Mira turned suddenly, the skirt flying out in a circle as she did so, to see Neko standing in the doorway, her little tail flapping behind her excitedly, "How are you feeling, Mira?"  
  
"Neko!" Mira smiled, "I want to thank you for saving me out there! I would have surely frozen to death if it hadn't been for you and your kind family."  
  
"It was nothing, Mira." Neko said, flushing slightly, "We'd do the same for anyone who looked in trouble."  
  
Mira smiled and said; "I'm hungry, Neko. Can we go find something to eat?"  
  
Neko grinned hugely and grabbed the smaller girl's hand in her own, she pulled her out the door, "Come with me! Mom baked cookies the other day! They are sooooo good with milk and you can have all you want! Afterwards, we can go exploring, okay?"  
  
Mira laughed and allowed herself to be carried along by the child's happy excitement, she wondered if the girl ever really had a friend she could play with and highly doubted it. She would oblige the child for as long as she was here, after all, she did owe it to her. Besides, it might be fun until all of her memory holes filled in.  
  
Alaura was at the counter washing some dishes when the girls bounced into the room. She heard Neko's giggle and said, without looking, "Neko, honey, there's cookies and milk on the table for you and your little friend."  
  
"Thank you, Miss. Flaxen, Ma'am." Mira said, politely, standing with her hands clasped together in front of her, waiting for Alaura to turn around and aknowlege her, "I am very happy to be here with all of you, Ma'am."  
  
Alaura turned around and smiled at the girl, she took in her dress and said; "Your welcome, dear. What a lovely outfit you've got on."  
  
"Thank you, Ma'am." She smiled, "I found it in the closet, I hope it's all right."  
  
"Oh, perfectly, dear." Alaura said, "Only, please, call me Alaura, I'm still too young to be called 'Ma'am' all the time."  
  
"Mira!" Neko called, her mouth full of cookies, "C'mere 'an et!"  
  
"Neko!" Alaura glared, appalled at her daughter's behaviour, "That's disgusting! Don't talk with your mouth full!"  
  
"S-sworry." Neko swallowed and went on; "I mean, sorry, Mom. I forgot."  
  
Mira sat down and folded a napkin in her lap. She took one of the cookies that hadn't already been gobbled up by Neko and nibbled a little of it. She became aware of eyes watching her and flushed red as she put the cookie down on the plate and dabbed at her lips with the napkin.  
  
"My! What a polite little thing you are, Mira." Alaura said, beaming at her, to her daughter she said; "See, Neko? You would do well to emulate Mira here in regards to table manners."  
  
After Alaura turned away, Neko stuck her tongue out at Mira, showing her a mouthful of half-chewed cookie, and Mira giggled into her napkin. Alaura pretended not to hear, smiling softly to herself that her little girl had a playmate around her own age at last. But, she thought, Neko's table manners DID leave much to be desired. They would really have to work on them.  
  
Suddenly, Neko jumped up and ran out of the kitchen. Mira turned questionally to Alaura. "M-Alaura?"  
  
"He's home." Alaura smiled to herself and wiping her hands on a towel, she spun graceful around and Mira admired her pretty golden hair as it fell in waves down her back and the way her blue eyes seemed to light up from within. She left the room and Mira wondered who she was going to meet next.  
  
Piccolo met Neko at the door, who launched herself at him in her usual greeting. He easily caught her in midair and brought her to his face as she kiss him on the cheek and wrapped her little arms tightly about his head. He had just come in from training with Gohan and the dirt and sweat of a full day still clung to him. But he knew his little girl did not care, she would greet him this way if he were covered in dung, she loved him that much.  
  
"Have you been a good girl, today, Neko?" He asked her, as he let her go so she could float near his head.  
  
"Da! Guess what? Guess what?" She asked, hopping in mid-air, Piccolo shook his head, not even going to venture a guess. With his daughter, it could be anything from Tae teaching her how to control her ki better to finding a family of ants behind the house. "I found a girl in the forest today!"  
  
"What?" He was taken aback, he wasn't expecting this! "What girl? In the forest? How did she get there?"  
  
"We don't know, Da!" Neko said, lowering herself to the floor as she saw Alaura approaching from the hall, "But she's in our kitchen eating cookies right now! Her name is Jalamira, but she says we can just call her Mira and she had weird hair and her ears look like yours, Da!"  
  
"Slow down, Neko!" Alaura said, ruffling her daughter's hair, "Don't forget, you still to breath!"  
  
She moved past the little girl and wrapped her arms around Piccolo's waist, bringing her head upwards to meet his own as he kissed her soundly in greeting. Piccolo also knew that THIS little girl of his would always greet him this way, regardless of how he looked or smelled when he came home. On that he knew he could rely. But, he was also curious about this girl Neko mentioned.  
  
"Hey, you two!" Alaura opened her eyes and saw Gohan standing in the doorway, looking just as battered as Piccolo, grinning as if he'd just come back from the carnival, "Get a room!"  
  
Neko giggled and Alaura and Piccolo withdrew from each other, but only bodily, their souls were forever connected and they shared a look between each other than only those deeply in love could understand. Neko grabbed Piccolo's hand and started to lead him into the kitchen, "Come on, Da! I want you to meet Mira!"  
  
"Who's Mira?" Gohan asked, looking from face to face, "What did I miss, here?"  
  
"A girl I found in the forest, Uncle Gohan!" Neko said, looking over her shoulder at him, "No one knows how she got there!"  
  
They entered the kitchen and saw Mira standing next to the table, waiting. Her eyes nearly bulged from their sockets when she saw how large Piccolo was and Neko said; "Mira, this is my father, Piccolo and my Uncle Gohan."  
  
"Nice to meet you both." Mira said, shyly, she ducked her eyes and looked back at Neko; "You have such a.large family, Neko."  
  
"Yes, I know!" Neko beamed proudly, "I am gonna be big and strong like Da too, when I grow up!"  
  
"Oh, you are, are you?" Alaura asked.  
  
"Sure, Mom!" Neko said, "And I'm going to fight too, Da said he would start training me soon!"  
  
"Oh, really?" Alaura glared at Piccolo, recalling a certain conversation they had not too long ago, "And what about school?"  
  
"Now you sound like MY Mom!" Gohan said and laughed at Alaura's bewhildered expression.  
  
"Well, school IS important." She said, in defense of herself.  
  
Mira waited paitently while the family chatted back and forth and found herself missing something, something which could only be found through friends and family. She knew she needed to remember how to get back to Jalamir so she could be with the family she just knew where there, waiting and missing her.  
  
"I don't know exactly how I got here." Mira began later, after introductions and greetings had passed, "But I do know that I come from a world called Jalamir. I was named after it. I aslo know that I am someone special there, or at least, that is the feeling I have, I cannot be sure, however, until all memories are complete. I don't remember exactly how far from this world Jalamir is, if I ever knew to begin with."  
  
"Strange." Gohan said, "You look a few years younger than Neko here, yet you talk years older. Do you remember your age, at all, Mira?"  
  
Mira thought for a moment and said; "I was born at least two hundred turns ago. I mean, the way the seasons turn. Do the seasons turn here as well?"  
  
"Two hundred.you can't be two hundred years old!" Alaura cried, her hand to her heart as her blue eyes widened.  
  
"Why not, My love?" Piccolo said, "She is an alien and her race may just be long-lived, such as mine are."  
  
Mira nodded, and Neko looked sad for a moment. Mira knew the little girl was upset because she thought she'd found a friend near her own age to play with, not another grown up who wouldn't understand her. She smiled at Neko and tried to reach the girl telepathically; She sent in a mindtouch only the other girl could hear; ** Don't worry, Neko. We can still be friends. There is much that I don't know that you can still teach me. **  
  
Neko brightened and she knew the message had been received easily.  
  
"Well, with the way you carry yourself, Mira," Gohan said, cocking his head to the side to study her, "I woudn't be surprised if you were their Princess or something."  
  
"Nothing so grand, Gohan." Mira said, giggling, "Though, it would be nice, I think.No, I think I'm probably just from a well-to-do family or something."  
  
"Hmm." Gohan said, "I wonder, though."  
  
"Well, dear, at any rate," Alaura said, as she sat on Piccolo's lap with his arms around her as he floated above the floor the kitchen, "You are welcome to stay here with us as long as you want." 


	5. Coming To An Understanding

"She can sleep in my room, can't she, Mom?" Neko asked, hopping on heels in place on the floor, "Oh, Please! Please! Please! Can she? Huh? Huh?"  
  
"I don't know, Sweetheart." Alaura said, looking at Mira, "I'm not sure how Mira would feel."  
  
"It's all right, Alaura, really." Mira sat on the edge of the sofa next to Tae and spoke in hardly whisper, only the nameks present did not need to strain to hear her, "I like Neko and don't mind where I sleep."  
  
Neko stopped bouncing in place long enough to rush over to the smaller girl and tackle her in an expressive hug. As they tumbled onto the floor and Mira shoved her way back up, the adults shook their heads simultaneously at the children's behaviour.  
  
"Outside for that!" Alaura cried, hopping down gracefully from her place on Piccolo's lap, she went on; "Neko, you know better than to roughhouse indoors. I do have breakables around, you know!"  
  
"Yes, Mom." Neko said, her head hanging like a whipped dog, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I just forget sometimes."  
  
"Neko." Piccolo stopped the girl in her tracks, "You and Mira meet me outside, I would have word with the both of you."  
  
Mira cast a questioning look at Neko but all Neko could do was shrug. The two children shuffled outside, uncertain of their fate. Alaura grabbed ahold of Piccolo's cape-tails and pulled them as hard as she could. He knew she wasn't strong enough to actually pull him down if he did not want her too, still he allowed himself to drift towards her, until their eyes met.summer sky blue to ebony black.and all the emotions within and without.  
  
"You cannot begin now, Piccolo." She said, her voice low, as Gohan walked towards the guest showers to get cleaned up, "She's still a baby!"  
  
"She was a baby yesterday and the day before that and the day before that, Alaura." He said, "Gohan started his training younger than Mira!"  
  
"Gohan is NOT our daughter!" Alaura cried, "I.I'm afraid she'll get hurt."  
  
"Of course she's going to get hurt, Alaura!" Piccolo said through gritted teeth, nearly at his wit's end. He had wanted to start training his daughter almost from the moment she was born, he could feel the raw energy within the little body just begging for release. He knew he could help her greatly to begin as soon as possible. But, her mother had wanted the little one to herself for as long as possible. He knew he must find a way to sever the ties to Alaura's apron strings that were attached so tighly to her.  
  
He knew he would get no where if Alaura continued to coddle her so.  
  
"But, that's part of training.and part of growing up." He said, as she looked away, tears in her eyes. Hateful, unbidden tears. She wished she could make them stop, but they would not listen, they just escaped her eyelids and ran, carefree, down her cheeks to drip from her chin, "Alaura," Piccolo tilted her chin upwards so he could look at her face, A face he loved so dearly, "She had been your daughter all this time.let her be mine, now. I'll take good care of her, as I take care of you both. I always have and I always will."  
  
"Go to them, then." Alaura said, after kissing the palm of his hand tenderly, "But, remember, she still has to give me hugs and kisses goodnight, every night." 


	6. The Training Begins

"What do you think your Father wishes to speak to us about, Neko?" Mira asked, pacing back and forth in front of Neko, who sat cross-legged a few feet in the air, seeming to be thinking hard about something.  
  
"I don't know, Mira." Neko said, opening one eye, "Could you please stop that. Your making me nervous."  
  
"Oh, sorry." Mira plopped down on the grass, her long hair falling in waves behind her, all bright red and white in the fading sun, "I guess I pace when I get nervous."  
  
"I guess." Neko said, "Don't worry. Da's nice, once you get to know him. He just looks scary is all."  
  
"It's not that, Neko." Mira said, "I know he is trustworthy, I can feel that about him, I am just afraid that he will think there is no room for me and ask me to leave."  
  
"Oh, he wouldn't do that!" Neko said, "He'd never go behind Mom's back about something! I know! And she all ready said you could stay!"  
  
"I soppose.still."  
  
** Neko! Mira! ** Both girls jumped at the sound of the voice in their heads and Neko smiled slightly, Mira just looked frightened and confused. She reminded Neko of a rabbit she had caught once that looked like it was about to either faint dead away or take off at a blind run, ** Tomorrow begins your training. I suggest you both get some sleep and be ready to start at four a.m. sharp! **  
  
"Four a.m.?!" Neko cried, gasping, she hated getting up early!  
  
"Sharp." Mira nodded, as if in confirmation.  
  
Neko sighed, shrugged and said; "Well, I always did want to be like Da." 


	7. Holiday Cheer

A week had passed since Neko and Mira had begun their training, most of which included running errands, climbing, running and doing odd chores about and around the house. None of which the two girls could figure out had a thing to do with training, but they trusted Piccolo so tried not to be annoying by asking too many questions.  
  
Snow graced the boughs of the fir and pine trees and scattered the ground where the treetops broke free and allowed a bit of sky to peer through, thus allowing snow to drift down as well. Scattered needles lent their heady scent to the crisp air. Alaura always tried to make the girls wear coats and gloves when they went out, but as the day progressed and their work became harder, the coats and gloves were inevitably discarded as sweat beaded their brows and under their arms as they worked.  
  
The girls were the ones who had cut the tree down, upon a request from Alaura, without any help at all from Piccolo, and drag the thing, which was taller and fatter than both girls combined, throught the forest and back to their house, where Alaura met them at the door and helped get it in the rest of the way.  
  
"It's a beautiful Christmas Tree, girls." Alaura said, all ready starting to hang the brightly colored bulbs and tinsel, Tae was placing wrapped gifts around it becomingly and Gohan was soppose to be hanging the candy canes, but he'd all ready eaten most of them. "Piccolo, It's Christmas Eve."  
  
"So." He stood with his arms folded under his chest, waiting for Neko and Mira to finish, "It's only four o'clock, they have plenty of time left before it gets too dark outside."  
  
"That's not the point!" Alaura said, "Christmas Eve is special! It only come around once a year and this is the first time I've actually wanted to celebrate it in years and I want to celebrate it with those I love and if that means stopping in their training for one night.!"  
  
"Alaura.sshh!" Gohan looked up, placed the last candy cane on the tree and put his arm around her shoulder, "It's okay. Piccolo will allow them this one night off, won't you, Piccolo?"  
  
Sighing greatly because he really did not wish to postpone anything, but realizing how important it was to Alaura, he said, finally; "It's fine with me."  
  
Neko and Mira yipped at that and ran in circles around the tree, even though neither of them knew, exactly, what this Christmas business was all about. Mira thought it sounded a lot like something they celebrated on Jalamir called "Harmony Day" when one is thought to be in tune, or 'in harmony' with everyone and every creature for that one special night and they exchanged gifts with each other and general thoughts of goodwill.  
  
Mira was always happy that little by little, piece by piece her memories were starting to fill in. She could remember special holidays and such, now, of her people and that was making progress. She thought maybe Piccolo showing her some relaxation techniques to aide in meditation might be the cause of her starting to remember things more and more.  
  
A few hours later, Alaura had turned on the tree's lights and they all noticed the soft-bulb lights she had chosen, favoring her sensitivity to bright light, and they gathered around the living room. A few candles burned on the mantle and snow was falling in a steady drift downwards out the windows.  
  
Piccolo sat on one end of the sofa with Alaura curled against his side and wrapped parically within his cloak. Neko sat on the other side of Piccolo and lay with her head in his lap, dozing lightly and half-heartedly sucking on her thumb, as he smoothed back her hair from her forehead gently.  
  
Tae and Gohan sat in the chairs opposite Piccolo, Alaura and Neko and Mira was on the floor gazing wistfully at the lighted tree. She had never felt such peace in her life.or if she had, she could not recall. She wished for this night to stay exactly how it was, now, forever locked in time.  
  
She shook her head mentally and smiled at her own foolishness, she knew that no one could hope to stop time. It was ever flowing, like a river, over rocks and smooth places, never ceasing and always going forward. She would just have to do well riding it on through to where ever it may lead her.  
  
Mira looked down at herself and noticed that she grown quite some bit in the short time she'd been on this planet, with these wonderful people and wondered if anyone else had noticed as well. She seemed to be be growing an inch a day. Neko no longer towered over her and she was much stronger, now, than she was when she first came.  
  
"Mira, dear." Alaura said, breaking the silence, Neko opened one eye, still with her thumb in her mouth and Alaura went on; "Since your all ready there, would you mind passing out the gifts?"  
  
"Of course I don't mind, Alaura." She said and began the task, happily enjoying this wonderful night.  
  
"I am just sorry that I don't have anything for any of you," Mira said in sorrow.  
  
"It's all right, Mira." Alaura said, smiling warmly at the girl, she had not failed to notice was growing at a much faster rate than a human girl would at the same apparent age.but then, Mira was neither human nor her apparent age. She kept having to remind herself that Mira had all ready lived past two hundred years. It was hard to believe, much less understand! Perhaps her species simply started out slow than had a huge growth spurt and then settled down once more to continue with their life. Now that she thought about it, it didn't really sound all that different from humans at all.basically. "Just you being here and sharing with us is gift enough."  
  
"I don't really need all this stuff." Piccolo said, holding up the funny- looking tie with green alien heads all over that had been Gohan's gift, "I don't hold much with physical possessions."  
  
Alaura touched his arm gently, gaining his attention; "It's the thought that counts, dear." 


	8. A Princess

"How far away do you think it is?" The woman speaking was beautiful beyond compare, with amber eyes that seemed to glow from some inner light and hair that fell in lustrous curls of silver twined with golden strands across her narrow shoulders and back, framing her heart-shaped face in a shimmering border of loveliness. Her name was Larajin, and she was a princess. More than that, she was very aware of her social standing and had no qualms about reminding those who, however momentarily, forgot.  
  
She paced the mirror-shiny floor of the ship with nervous energy, the stars in clusters of winking diamonds-on-velvet raced past the circular windows which surrounded the long ready chamber. She looked down at her feet for a glance and saw her reflection in the floor. Her hair tended to cover up her long, elegantly tapered ears, but she did not mind. The hem of her dark blue skirt barely reached her muscular mid-thighs and her matching midriff top was adored with silvery pearls along the color which just so happened to match perfectly the armband she'd made herself of strands of her own silvery-gold hair entwined with precious pearls.  
  
She turned to face the man who stood in the doorway, ready to leap into action at her slightest whim. He smiled apologetically and replied; "I'm sorry, My Lady.We shall not arrive in Earth's atmospere for another ten days."  
  
Damn! Larajin swore in her mind. Outwardly she nodded to the man, she could not place his name, a servert more or less and therefor not worthy of more than her momentary attention. She just had to reach that planet! Her future depended on it!  
  
"If you don't mind me saying so, My Lady," She turned in place and noticed that the man had not left as she'd thought, she curled her lip in annoyance, unaware of how unattractive this made her, "We are in range to communicate if anyone can reciece a signal."  
  
That's it! Larajin smiled to herself and the man thought the gentle curl of her lips was meant for him and beamed like a fool as she brushed past him, ignorant of how her breasts grazed his chest as she did so. He flushed hotly from the roots of his brown hair to the tips of his pointed ears.  
  
Larajin sat down and pulled the strange-looking helmet over her head. It was connected to an abudance of wires and blinded her in both hearing and sight to anything outside of her in the room she was in as long she had it over her head. She had ushered everyone out of the communications room and double checked everything as well as all the passcode locks on the doors, so as to be alone and lessen the chance of something unfortunate happening while she was vulnerable.  
  
She knew how the helmet worked, she'd been included in it's creation, though she had never actually tried it out herself. She tended to leave mundane work like communications to those best suited for the job and busy herself with things a Princess of Jalamir should be doing.such as training for the throne. She unconcisously balled her fists in her lap and thought how unfair life was at times.  
  
She often wondered exactly why she had to go rescue her little sister time and again. But, she knew that this time it was no rescue attempt she was going for, Larajin needed to find her little sister and bring her back to Jalamir in order that her future be secure. A small twinge of sisterly regret squeezed her heart for a moment, which she brushed away mentally, fearing such feeling would only lead to weakness and weakness was something she could ill aford to have.  
  
She wished that Jalamira could just stay lost on that little world and she could go on to claim the throne after her mother passed it to her and stepped down, to die peacefully of old age in the comfort of the castle interior as had been done ages upon ages.  
  
Jalamira had always been their mother's favorite. Oh, Queen Helekina tried not to show any difference in the way she loved her daughters, but any fool could see she doted on the girl who had been named after the planet she would someday rule. Jalamira had gone missing after she'd snuck aboard a small ferry and by the time they realized she'd not just gone off wandering around the grounds to chase butterflies or something, it was too late and the men had returned, also unaware of their extra luggage.  
  
Larajin took a deep breath, she knew that the last time she'd seen her sister, Jalamira wasn't past initial growth yet. She knew that by the time she reached Earth her little sister would be nearly her height and much stronger than a mere two hundred and three seasons old.  
  
Jalamirians stayed as small children in size until they reached their two hundreth season, after which, within a week or two, they grew at an amazingly great rate until the females filled out in hip and chest and the males gained more muscle and the broadness of adulthood along with the required height. Their voices changed accordingly as well with the growth, almost overnight going from high-pitched childish to the lower tones of a grown Jalamirian.  
  
Larajin realized that she did not wish to see her sister until she was at her full size, it would make what she had to do less difficult, in a way. She closed her eyes and focused her mind and the rythum of her breathing as she had been instructed as a young child, almost allowing herself to fall into the pleasantness of the altered state as the faint buzzing in her mind became louder and louder and the tunnel of darkness opened before her mind's eye, it's vaccum threatening to suck her in completely.  
  
She caught herself mentally before she could tumble down that spiral, lights flashing behind her lids and the buzzing noise increasing. She focused and then sent out her call, right on the edge of the vaccumous corridor which tugged at the corners of her mind like a drug to the helplessly addicted.  
  
** Jalamira! ** Larajin tried, hoping for a response, just one tiny flicker would be all she would need, just one! ** Jalamira! **  
  
"Why did you stop, Mira?" Piccolo stood at no great distance from the two girls, who were practicing the series of blocks and punches he had shown them a few weeks after that christmas nonsence Alaura was so keen on. Neko fell forward and caught herself in time as Mira spun away from her and stepped to the side, her eyes upward and her attention elsewhere. Piccolo growled, it was difficult to teach children who did not pay attention.  
  
Neko strode over to her friend and touched her on the shoulder. Mira was now taller than Neko and she wondered about that. It seemed odd that the girl who, only weeks before, had been smaller than her, should suddenly shoot up to nearly her mother's height! "Mira? What is it? You look.strange."  
  
Piccolo waited, also wondering what was going on in the girl's head. Could it be that she hadn't just been daydreaming? Perhaps something was going on with her, something to do with her species? Or something more sinister? Almost by instint his ebony eyes lifted to the crystal whiteness of the winter sky as Mira's had done moments before.  
  
Mira closed her eyes and opened them again. "It was a message." She said to them, her voice low, almost a whisper, "M-my sister.she's coming for me."  
  
"Your sister?" Piccolo asked, "I thought you said you could not recall."  
  
"I can't." She said, still in shock by the unexepted telepathy, "But she claims to be my older sister and says that it is imperative that I return with her to Jalamir once she arrives."  
  
"But how can you be sure she is really who she says she is, Mira?" Neko asked, flicking her tail around in growing anger. She did not wish to lose her friend, not so soon!  
  
Mira regarded both her and Piccolo with a confused stare, finally she said; "Because in sending there can only be truth. Is that not how it is here as well?" She knew deep inside that those words were true, she felt she had known that about mindtouching since she had been in the womb.  
  
Piccolo shook his head, as much shocked by the news as his daughter. He had grown fond of the girl and wanted Neko to be happy. He had begun to think of her almost as another daughter, albeit it was odd to have such feelings, especially for him, in so short a time. "No," He said, his cape billowing in the cold breeze which suddenly seemed to come from no where, "One can lie and be treachous just as easily by mouth as they can by thought, here."  
  
"Oh." Mira said sadly, "I can't understand that."  
  
"I hope you never do, Mira." He said to her, "Tell us now, what else did this sister of your say?"  
  
"She said she would be arriving in ten days time," She said, her large eyes falling from Neko's small scared and angry round face to Piccolo's larger more angular concerned green one, "She also mentioned that she is Princess Larajin of Jalamir." 


	9. Sisters

Alaura stood with as close to Piccolo as she could without falling into him, her small hands clutching his arm so tight that her nails dug into the soft part of his flesh. He made no sound nor seemed to take no note of her nervousness other than to whisper in her ear that nothing bad would happen. Alaura did not believe him.  
  
They stood, Alaura, Piccolo, Tae, Neko and Mira in front of the large house Alaura had built soon after her first had been destroyed by Vegeta some years ago, watching as a female shape shimmered in front of them and then took solid form in a matter of a few heartbeats. Two more shapes, decidedly male and decidedly armed, appeared on either side of the woman.  
  
"Greeting!" Her voice was low-pitched with just a bit of a purr and held a regal tone, as she stepped forward, the half-cape she wore over one shoulder moved with her. She carried a length of brown and blue silk that perfectly matched her cape, half-shirt and short skirt. Piccolo noticed how the gaurds glared at everyone and everything, keeping their mistress in sight at all times, "J'Kaar. Aethor." She said with a wave of her hand, not even looking at them, "Please occupy yourselves elsewhere for a bit."  
  
"B-but, Lady." One of them began, his eyes huge with fear, glancing towards Piccolo's towering form.  
  
"Do not quarrel with me, Aethor." Her tone broke no protest and promised hardship if not listened to. Without waiting for Aethor or J'Kaar to reply or to leave, she approached Alaura and dipped her head slightly towards her, "I am The Princess Larajin of the Planet Jalamir. I assume you are leader here?"  
  
Alaura flushed heavily and stumbled over her reply. She had never come into contact with royalty before! "No, Your Highness.uh.Majesty.ummm."  
  
Larajin noticed her struggling and smiled slightly before coming to her rescue, "Just address me as Larajin, Please, I don't stand on ceremony were one of my own is concerned."  
  
"One of your own." Alaura looked confused, she was human.not.Jalamirian! "But, I'm not."  
  
"I meant your gender, dear one." Larajin laughed, "Oh! I must have made a mistake! Women do not rule this world?"  
  
"Curious." Larajin mumbled under her breath, "I've heard of this planet and it's ways.I just thought the stories were fables, to be taken with a grain of salt. It seems I was wrong."  
  
"Anyhow." She continued, clapping her hands abruptly, as if she needed to gain their all ready rapt attention, "As you must know, I've come for my little sister, Jalamira. Jalamira?"  
  
Mira looked at her, she was nearly as tall as this strange otherworldly Princess now and was beautiful in her own right. After some coaxing, she had allowed her long reddish-white hair to be cut into a cute style just above her chin which not only looked nice but did not hinder her while in training. Piccolo had explained to her how an unscrupulous foe may take advantage of her long tresses and use them against her in a fight.  
  
"I'm called Mira." Her hand flexing absently above the small dagger held securely to her upper thigh, as she stared through unblinking eyes at this sister. "What is your business here?"  
  
"Oh, I know it's been awhile since I ordered you left on this godforsaken rock, but you can't tell me you don't remember your own sister? My God! We're flesh and blood!"  
  
Mira did not reply but Neko stepped up to her and looked up into her bone- pale and flawless face, "You leave my friend alone!"  
  
Mira tried not to smile or show concern for the little imp and Larajin looked down her nose at the child, noticing the stance she'd taken as if about to defend her friend, "Be gone, child. You are no match for a royal born."  
  
"Larajin, what do you want?" Mira asked, "I have a feeling this little visit is more than just a family reunion. You left me to die in the forest here, you wanted me dead. I take it you have no love of me."  
  
"No match.?!" Neko muttered as the two girls were talking, they hardly took note of her until she began a flying ball of arms and legs and tail and lauched herself straight for Larajin's throat. Alaura gasped and instinctively lurched forward to stop her child before the unthinkable could happen, but Piccolo jerked her back, hissing in her ear; "Let the child go, Alaura. She needs to learn on her own. Who knows, maybe she can take her."  
  
"Are you seri." But Alaura did not have time to get the words out, she watched in horror as Larajin's sandled foot came up and caught her daughter's head full-on, the impact sending the child flying and landing several yards away within a tree. Off balance, and about to fall, Neko used her tail to wrap around a branch and hold herself up. She dangled there for a few moments, trying to will the stars to fly away from her skull. Piccolo winched inwardly as he felt his heart lurch as his daughter's slammed into the tree. He knew she was all right, but still.  
  
"Stupid infant." Larajin muttered, "Perhaps I shouldn't have sent my gaurds away."  
  
"Neko!" Tae ran to the tree and the little girl dropped easily into his strong arms, "I have a feeling this meeting isn't for us.come, we'll go for a walk."  
  
"Now," Larajin said, smiling and turning back to them, "As is custom on my world, the favored daughter of the Queen takes over after she steps down. As long as your still alive, Jalamira," She said, ignoring Mira's desire to shorten her birth name, "I shall never attain the throne as is my life's goal. Our mother, although she longs for you to be Queen in her stead, realizes that I would be the far better choice."  
  
"Then what's the problem?" Piccolo asked, already irritaited with this female's long-windedness. He hated people who didn't get to the point. "Just go back to your world and be Queen or whatever.."  
  
"It's not that simple, my dear green fellow." She said, raising her delicate blonde brows at him, "Custom is that we must have a battle to determine who shall lead. If two sisters are still alive upon the time of ascension, they must fight. Custom and law need to be obeyed. It's not my doing, I don't make up the rules!"  
  
"Yes, but I have the feeling you love to enforce them!" Mira said, and her sister did not argue.  
  
"So, it's settled then?" Larajin asked, sweetness dripping like honey from her voice, "My darling sister will meet me on our ship for the battle in." She glanced at her wrist, and Mira noted a small watch there, "48 of your Earth hours. Transport will be furnished. I expect you to show, sis. Do not disapoint me."  
  
Larajin called her gaurds back to her and the three shimmered and vanished in mid-air, leaving the group gaping after her and her words. "That gives me less than a few days to prepare." Mira said softly, "Not nearly enough time."  
  
"Your not going to go ahead and." Alaura ran over to her and embraced her, "Mira! No! She'll kill you!"  
  
"I have to, Alaura!" Mira shoved the older Earth woman off her and stood straight, "I have to." She said grimly upon seeing the look of disbelief in the kind female's tearful blue eyes, "Gentle one, I thank you for all your kindness, but this is something you can never hope to understand."  
  
"But." Alaura was reaching out but Piccolo stepped in front of her, blocking her way to Mira and said, "Alaura. Listen to her. Your not a fighter. You."  
  
"I know I don't understand!" She cried, frustrated, "How can I understand willful killing and dying! I wish never to understand!" She turned and fled into the house, the door slammed shut behind and with his sensitive ears, Piccolo could hear her quiet sobs. He knew what she feared, she could see Neko easily following in Mira's, in his, footsteps and losing her someday. She had been against him starting to train her from the onset. Still, Neko would choice her own path, one day, be it fighter or.other. Just as he had choisen his own path and Tae his. 


	10. To The Death

The crowd gathered looked mostly female from Piccolo could see, a few males walked about the circlur stadium and served drinks or food to the seated woman. Most would take what they wanted from proffered trays and ignore the men holding, but a few had flirty half-grins and half-closed eyes that held promises of other other peasures elsewhere and more private.  
  
Alaura had stayed home, not wishing anymore involvement in 'such needless bloodshed' and he ached at not having her at his side where he'd grown used to feeling her. Neko perched on his knee and gazed out and down at the large field-like place of battle where she knew in moments her friend Mira would be facing off against her older sister. Her small heart hammered in her chest in part fear, part excitement. Tae had stayed at home to tend to Alaura, also not as into combat as he was into the more gentle art of the dance.  
  
"Some place, huh, Piccolo?" Gohan sat next to him, also nearly bouncing in his seat as if he wished he were the one about to fight and not some point- eared girl, "This ship is so huge I almost feel as if I'm not even ON a ship!"  
  
"Indeed, Gohan." Piccolo agreed, but the closeness of other bodies making him feel a tad but claustophobic, he hoped this was over soon so he could get back to things a little less.crowded.  
  
"Ooh! Da! Something's happening down there?" Neko pointed to below where they could make out a dark shape walking onto the field, looking around the stadium and pausing with arms raised high. "Well, this is it." Piccolo said softly.  
  
"Da?" Neko turned to look at her father, into his dark-on-white eyes, "Mira won't really be hurt, will she?"  
  
"I thought you understood, Little One." Piccolo said, looking into her own wide dark eyes, "This battle between Larajin and Mira is to the death."  
  
Neko gasped and cried out, tears flooded her eyes and streamed down her cheeks, "No! No one told me THAT! She can't! Da! You have to do something! She can't die! Mira can't!"  
  
"Shh!" Piccolo said, half in scolding, half in an attempt at comfort, "She's made this decision for herself, daughter. There isn't anything I.we can do. You must be brave, now and do not shame her with your tears."  
  
"But." Neko sniffled, holding onto the front of Piccolo's white cape with two small fists, "It's.not.FAIR!"  
  
"Life is rarely fair, daughter." He said, disengaging her fingers from his clothing and turning her around to face the battle below. "That is the first lesson we must learn, however difficult it may be."  
  
Sniffing yet no longer hysterical, Neko watched her friend Mira and Mira's older sister Larajin exchange blows below them with a blank stare as if she were suddenly determined not to allow her emotions to flood over ever again. She watched the fight with unblinking eyes, giving away no clue as to her innermost thoughts and fears.  
  
Even when she saw her friend fall and not rise up as she had several time before, did she look concerned. She simply sat, her hands clasped around the tip of her tail, watching, silently watching. She watched as Larajin raised her hand upwards, the glint of a knife sharp in the bright light around the stadium, and slashed downward, cutting into Mira's throat and spilling her crimson life's blood upon the floor. She watched without moving as Larajin sliced through muscle and bone and finally, her foot braced upon the younger girl's shoulder, yanked hard, pulling Mira's head completely free of her body.  
  
Holding the head of her slain sister up by the hair like a gory trophy, Larajin turned in place, proclaiming her victory for all to see, daring anyone to challenge her now. Neko watched in silence, but deep within her heart of hearts, something cracked. 


	11. A Moment Of Passion

Alaura felt the silent scream like a thousand knives peircing her temple. She had been in the kitchen stirring a spoonful of sugar into a cup of warm tea for herself to clear her nerves, Tae was seated at the table, his back to her as he studied the melting snow outside, his elbow on the tabletop with his chin resting on his palm. He sighed deeply and wondered, as his eyes lifted of their own accord, how Mira was fairing and how his little sister was taking things.  
  
Soundlessly, Alaura watched as her fingers refused to grip the cup's delicate handle and she watched in horror as it seemed to slip, in slow motion, from her hand to shatter into a million tiny china pieces on the floor of the kitchen. She opened her mouth and could not hear herself scream. Though she must have make some noise, other than the dish falling, because suddenly Tae was there with his arms around her, holding her steady as she continued to scream, tears falling, unbidden, from her eyes and damping his shirt.  
  
"Mother!" Tae cried, "What's wrong?"  
  
She shook her head, unable to form words, the task was too difficult for her now. All she could see was blood.blood and an unending rage barely covering a childlike terror. She stumbled from her adopted son's grip and slid to the floor amid the broken china. She cut the palm of her hand and the pain only made what she was seeing and feeling behind her mind's eye all that much more real.  
  
"Oh, Dear God." She moaned, her hands covering her face, blood dripping from between her fingers like some morbid reddish-flesh curtain, "No.No!"  
  
"What is it?" Tae asked, "Is it Neko? Is she okay? Mira? Piccolo?"  
  
Tae sounded frantic, she thought, he sounds like I feel. I must get ahold of myelf, I must be strong, they need me. My family needs me. She sucked in a deep breath, sobbing halfway through it and lowered her hands to her knees. Looking at Tae though blood-smeared features, she said; "My daughter and I were just connected. I have no idea she was capable of.Oh, God!" She grabbed for Tae and buried her face in his chest, her shoulders shook as she cried; "She saw everything, Tae, Neko saw everything.Mira.Mira is dead.awful."  
  
There was sudden shimmer of light near them as Piccolo, holding Neko to him and Gohan appeared, having been dismissed from the ship following the fight between the two sisters. All wore grim expressions. Without a word, Alaura went to Piccolo and Neko and Neko held out her arms to her mother. She did not cry, Neko, but buried her face into her mother's soft shoulder and clung her her blouse as if afraid to let go. Alaura held her tight and soothed her as best she could. She exchanged a look with Piccolo and left to take their daughter upstairs to bed.  
  
"Poor kid." Tae shook his head, watching Alaura depart with her little girl, her baby, "No child her age should have to witness death."  
  
"Death is a part of life." Piccolo said, standing with his muscular arms folded across his broad chest, his expression severe, "Every child needs to learn this."  
  
"But, Piccolo.It's so cruel.!" Tae snapped, his eyes narrowing, annatae flickering, "Did you see her? She was terrified! She'll be lucky if this doesn't traumatize her for life!"  
  
"Life is cruel, Tae." Piccolo replied, not to be mean, but because it was the truth, "You of all people should be able to appriecate that, at least."  
  
"Life was cruel to me, for awhile," He agreed, nodding, "But after I found Alaura and you and she pressed me to continue my dancing, and I saw how you cared for her, I realized that life can be sweet as well.and that we make our own destiny, come what may."  
  
"She will grieve for Mira." Piccolo said, sadness in his voice, "So will I."  
  
"I think we all will." Tae said, "Even though she wasn't with us long, I got the feeling she was.as Alaura once said to me, a kindred spirit."  
  
Piccolo nodded and Gohan, who had been silent until now, spoke up; "May the spirits bless and keep her."  
  
"I must see to Alaura and my daughter." Piccolo said softly after a long heartbeat. His cape fluttered in the wake of his movement as he turned about and climbed the stairs which led to Neko's bedroom. He found Alaura seated in the rocking chair he had brought home to her one night when she was still swollen with child, Neko curled into a ball in her mother's lap, sucking on the end of her tail as Alaura rocked them both gently and ran her fingers lightly over the child's brow.  
  
"How is she?" Piccolo approached, removing his heavy cape and turban with the training weights and setting them down carefully on the floor so as not to disturb the tender moment. Alaura looked up at him with liquid eyes, taking in his handsomeness and motioned with her free hand for him to come near. He knelt down and ran one large hand across his daughter's head, smoothing down her wayward curls and strands. He leaned over Neko and kissed Alaura softly, tenderly, on her lips, making her smile and sigh against his mouth. They had all been though so much, every last one of them, and he ached to be near her now. As if kissing and caressing her would ease away all the pain and terror of the last few hours.  
  
"Let me put Neko to bed." She whispered, but her eyes held his rapt, he could read the passion buring within, her desire an open book, easy to decipher. He helped her put Neko into the pretty pink and blue canopy bed and tuck the blankets up around her chin, kiss her goodnight and leave her to find their own room. "Gohan and Tae can tend to themselves for awhile." She said quietly.  
  
Nodding, he closed the door behind them once they were in their own room and she threw herself into his arms as if she'd not been with him like this in a million years. He placed one arm under back and the other behind her knees and lifted her easily from the floor. All the while he was carrying her to their king sized bed, she was kissing and stroking his lips, his cheeks, both eyes which closed to her feathery kisses, his antannae which trembled at the slight warm wetness of her tongue.  
  
He laid her down gently and began to unfasten the buttons of her blouse, his other hand shoving beneath her skirt and into the waistband of her panties. He could feel with the palm of his hand just how damp she had become in the short time between their daughter's room and their bed. Piccolo felt his own heart race in time with the steady pulse he could feel between her thighs. Frustrated with such small buttons, Piccolo leaned down and took her blouse in his fanged teeth, pulling the thin material apart savagely. She cried out at this new experience, though not in fear or anger, but in complete ecstasy.  
  
She ran her hands up and down his muscled chest, loving the feel of him as she loved nothing else in the world and with her eyes wide open she drank in the sight of him as an artist drinks in the sight of her model before beginning a new, brilliant piece of work. She could never get enough of looking at him, she thought, never. As she continued to watch and caress, the day's events seemed to melt into the far reaches of her mind, to hide there until further notice.  
  
Piccolo pulled the two tattered pieces of her blue blouse apart and easily unclasped her dark bra, slipping it away as her twin orbs fell into his grasp and offered themselves up for his attentions. He ran his tongue in small, tight circles around one nipple, delighting in it's swift hardness before moving his head to focus on the other. All the while, Alaura moaned deep in her throat, her breasts heaving with every breath and heartbeat as he played her body like a delicately tuned instrument of passion.  
  
Lifting her hips slightly, she was able to help him pull her skirt down and off of her. It fluttered to the floor beside their bed and he easily slipped her panties, now sodden with her juices of anticipation. ".Piccolo.!" She gasped and wriggled beneath him as he found her sweet opening with a finger and pressed gently into her tight, damp orifice.  
  
"Do you like that, my love?" He whispered huskily in her ear, snaking his tongue out to flick at her lob and around the enterance to her ear canal. She shivered in pleasure, sighing and moaning at the same time, she nodded but could not get the words out into the open. He chuckled softly and continued with his actions, loving all the responses her could arouse in her by just a few simple caresses and explorations.  
  
He kissed the hollow of her throat and followed a path only he could see, or perhaps feel, down her body, from the sweet flesh between her breasts to the slight tremor of her concave stomach, dipping his tongue breifly into her navel and making her whimper softly. Finally, he reached her lower stomach and could heard her insides gurgle and churn. He paid no heed to that and found himself still lower, running his hands up and down her dancer's legs and parting them attentively as his hands slipped from her outter trembling thighs to her inner.  
  
She could feel him poised above her, his breath stirring the fine blonde hairs on her mound of venus. She bit her lip to keep from crying out too loudly as she felt his hot tongue flick across her clitoris, rising sensations within her that she could never hope to describe, only that she felt as if everything were only a sweet, sweet dream. Piccolo placed his hands beneath her hips and lifted her towards him, enchanted beyond all words and thought with the scent and luscious nectar just inches from his face.  
  
She writhed and whimpered, chewed her lip until it bled as she felt his mouth engulf her most secret place in the most intimate of kisses and her hips moved unbidden in a circular motion as his tongue found it's way deep inside of her, pushing within and out in time to her breathing and shudders of pleasure bordering on pain. Piccolo noticed that her small, hooded clitoris had grown hard under his care and sucked it slightly, causing her to move more and cried out more, her hands flailed in the air, unsure of what she should do with them, at last she busied herself fondling her own nipples absently as he head turned from side to side in rapture.  
  
"Oh, God!" She cried out as he flicked her shining damp clitoris with the tip of his tongue, her breathing coming so fast now one would think she'd just run a marathon, sweat beaded her brow and stuck her flaxen hair to her head, the rest fanned out on the pillow beneath her. He paused her a moment to look up at her, his face drenched with her honeyed nectar, "Alaura.tell me what you want."  
  
She shook her head, unable to speak, whimpering loudly and in need. He waited for her to speak and finally she told him what she wanted; "Please.don't stop.what.you're doing."  
  
After a few more moments, he felt her tunnel of womanhood tighten around his tongue and tickled her clitoris with his fingers, and knew by the way she jerked upwards and stiffened that she had finally reached the summit and he guided her past it, drawing out her orgasm as far as he could, telling her without words, once more, how he cared for her. 


	12. A Vow Of Vengence

Neko awoke early, she could tell by the sun which hadn't shown it's face all the way in the sky outside her window yet. Her stomach growled and she realized she hadn't eaten in hours. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, feeling as if she had awoken from some horrible dream and yet not able to remember it now that she was awake. She pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them, thinking. Her mother had put her in the pink frilly Hello Kitty © nightshirt she wore and she remembered her father and Mother tucking her into bed and kissing her goodnight, but everything after that was a blur.  
  
No matter. She thought, swinging her legs over the side and hoping onto the cool hardwood floor of her bedroom, Mira and I.She stopped suddenly as a hard lump forced it's way into her stomach. Mira. She thought, forcing herself to stay calm, Something has happened to Mira. She closed her eyes and her stomach lurched at the images within. That silvery-blonde haired woman with ears like Mira's and the ice-hard stare, Mira fighting her and losing.and.her head.all bloody.  
  
Neko sat down hard on the floor, ignoring the sharp pain up her right butt cheek as she did so and ground her fists into her tightly closed eyes. The horror of the forgotten nightmare came back tenfold, only, now she realized, it was no mere nightmare. Everything had been real. As real as the blood she saw dripping from Larajin's blade down in the arena the night before.  
  
I could have stopped her! Neko thought, frantic, angry, If only I have tried harder to keep her from going! She would be alive today. If only! It's my fault.it must be. She opened her eyes and blinked several times to stop the tears that threatened to come, like water over a poorly built dam. But she would not allow them. No, I refuse to weep any more! I was weak and now my best friend is dead. She gritted her teeth and walked to her closet to find something to wear for the day. She choice the bright orange gi she always trained in, her Mother had it cleaned recently, she was thoughtful like that.  
  
"I must be strong." She said to herself as she made her way outside, her dark eyes blazing with a fire much too old for her tender years, "If I were strong when Mira fought her sister I could have helped and perhaps saved her." She went to find her father, more determinded that ever to not only keep up her training but to gain perfection, or at least as near to as she, a little girl, could get. Never again. She thought, her chin jutting out at an angle Alaura would have called her 'stubborn chin', I will never be weak again.  
  
"Someday, Larajin." Neko said, softly, "I will repay you for killing my best friend!" 


	13. Father And Daughter

For several months now Neko had been training, alone as well as with Piccolo or Gohan, or whoever happened be there at the time. She started from sun up til sun down and it often too several of them to coax her into ceasing and coming in for the night. The only thing which seemed unchanged was her apitite. According to Alaura, her daughter ate twice as much now and she had to send the woman who did their shopping for them twice a week, out three times a week now.  
  
Piccolo was the first to notice the drastic change in his daughter. Not just the newfound determination to increase her fighting skills, which was a bit odd in itself, she had always just had a so-so attitude about martial arts, a kind of take it or leave attitude and it seemed more a game to her than anything else. Now, he noticed, it seemed as if she believed her very life depended on her fighting proficiency. He did not like what he saw in his daughter's eyes nowadays. They were rage-filled and she seemed driven with a grim purpose only she could say. He had seen the look he saw in her eyes before and hadn't liked it then, either.  
  
"I'm worried about Neko, Piccolo." Alaura said one afternoon when the spring sunshine was just a little too bright and she hadn't wanted to venture out of doors. Instead, she had decided to read a little bit, curled up on the sofa, but thoughts of her daughter and how changed she had become since Mira's death kept floating inbetween the words on the page. Finally, after Piccolo had entered the room and sat down next to her, she had sighed and placed the book aside. "She's not like she used to be, she's not my little girl anymore."  
  
Neko's seventh birthday was coming up, but to Alaura it might as well be her thirtiest the way she was acting. She'd never seen a child so devoid of childlikeness before, it broke her heart to see her little girl with her eyes always shadowed and her fists always clenched at her sides, a feirceness in her eyes that frightened her and made the blood in her viens freeze every time she looked at her. "Something's happened to her, since."  
  
"I know." Piccolo said gravely, "I'm not sure there is anything anyone can do for her at this time."  
  
"At least can you go talk with her?" She asked, hating how she scared she sounded, "She listens to you more than she does me, I know it."  
  
"That's not so, you're her mother." Piccolo said at which she shook her head strongly.  
  
"It is so, Piccolo, and has been for awhile now," She said, "She loves me, I know that, but she respects you. She will listen when you talk and take what you say to heart. I know this and so do you."  
  
"I'll try to talk with her, Alaura." Piccolo said, rising and leaning down to kiss her cheek, "But I don't promise anything."  
  
"All I ask is that you try." She said, tears in her eyes, "That's all I ask."  
  
Neko was in a tree. She had climbed it and when she had reached the branch she had been aiming for she had decided to keep on climbing until she was near the very top of the sprawling oak which had always been her favorite ever since she had first seen it. She dangled her legs over the branch and leaned her back against the trunk, her eyes closed as she tried to will her body and mind into an altered state of complete relaxation.  
  
After a great few moments she realized that she was too tense, had been for months and that relaxation was beyond her now. All she had now was her determination to be perfect and that wore on her like a sickness that kept growing and festering inside her. She had not even realized she had been crying until she felt the dampness on her cheeks and swiped at her face with her arm, hating her tears for the weakness they showed. She knew that one day she would face Larajin and that she knew she could not show any sign of weakness then. Best not to fall into a pattern now, she thought as she glared though the tree's baby leaves towards the forest and blue afternoon sky beyond.  
  
"Neko." She stiffened when she heard her father's voice below her, "Come down, I wish to speak with you."  
  
She did not reply, instead she groaned and prepared to exit the tree in her usual style, leaping from branch to branch til she reached the ground. Instead she felt a rush of wind and saw Piccolo floating at her eye-level, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for her to aknowlege him. She sighed and sat back down on the branch. "I need to go trai."  
  
"Not just yet, Daughter." He said, "Your mother is worried. I am worried."  
  
Neko waited as he struggled for the right words, knowing that verbal expression has always come at a great price for him and interrupted, "You don't have to worry, Da. I know what I'm doing."  
  
"I don't think you do, Neko." He said, "I know you want to hurt, even kill, Larajin for killing your friend. I know how the feeling eats at your heart day and night. But, Neko, you're making a huge mistake. You're a little girl and you should be having fun and doing little girl things, not spending all your waking hours obsessed with this.this."  
  
"I cannot explain it to you, Da!" She cried, stepping off the branch to float in mid-air in front of him, her childlike face twisted in an expression far too old for her years, "I really don't want to. Leave me alone!"  
  
Piccolo watched her speed off into the sky, flying farther and farther away. He knew he could catch her easily if he flew after her, but she would still be too far for him to reach emotionally. Sighing, he sought the secluded darkness of the deep forest to ease his mind and calm his spirit, if such a thing could still be done with all the turmoil he felt within. 


	14. Alaura's Failure

"Did you speak with her?" Alaura began the moment she heard the front door slam shut, knowing that Piccolo would be able to hear her easily from the next room. She was still seated at the corner of the sofa, her long legs tucked up under herself and the gypsy-style skirt the color of dried blood spread out like a blanket over her feet and legs. She still wore her hair braided down her back for conveincence as well as comfort and the book she had been struggling to read still beside her where she'd left it.  
  
"She.I cannot help her, Alaura." Piccolo said as he stood before her, sadly, hating to cause more pain than what was already in his love's azure eyes. "Perhaps when Tae comes home again."  
  
Tae had taken off a little after the holidays, his troupe was to be going on another world tour soon and he needed to prepare for that. Gohan had gone back to his own family, promising to return for a visit soon. Alaura sighed and nodded. Perhaps that would help, she thought, Neko and Tae had always been like two burrs in a boot. Maybe after he returned things would go back to some semblence of normal.  
  
"I guess we should just leave her be," She said slowly, hating the meaning behind her words more than the words themselves, "As she obviously wants to be left."  
  
"I don't see any other way, Alaura." Piccolo agreed, "She's lost her childhood, in one fell swoop, as she watched her friend killed. Nothing can replace that. She will have to find her own way now."  
  
Alaura closed her eyes for a moment and heard Piccolo leave not by the sound of his footfalls, which were always silent, but by the sence that she was suddenly alone once more, in more ways than one. "As we all have to." She whispered, and lay her head down on the arm of the sofa, curling her arms about herself in an attempt to become as small as she felt. She had failed, she knew, deep within herself, deep where only darkness dwells, deep where only she knew, her secretmost heartspot, where a little child was always dancing frantically around in circles, struggles to continue as if by stopping all shall be lost, she had failed as a mother and nothing she did or said could make it right once more.  
  
~ End ~ (Of course, to be continued.) 


End file.
